Do You Need Travel Health Insurance?

by: M. Jedediah

Are you a travel freak? Do you travel frequently overseas? Do you plan trips and holidays with your family year after year? In case, your answer is in a 'yes' in most cases mentioned above, you should consider a travel health insurance policy.

A travel health insurance policy is a type of cover that provides the insurance holder, health insurance coverage during traveling, especially in a foreign country. Here, the insured is required to pay an amount known as the premium stipulated by the travel insurance company to avail benefits.

Usually, the coverage provides compensation for medical costs incurred by the insured during travel. In some special cases, the insurance policy also covers for medical evacuation.

A travel health insurance policy comes in combination with the following expenses coverage.

a) Trip cancellation insurance.

b) Trip interruption insurance.

c) Travel accident insurance.

d) Travel baggage loss insurance.

e) Travel emergency evacuation insurance.

f) Travel medical expenses insurance.

Usually the premium for travel health insurance amounts to $200 on an annual basis. However, the premium you pay towards your travel health insurance policy also depends a lot on your age, the distance of trip, any preexisting health conditions, cost of trip and the nation to which trip is being made. Some special travel insurance plans also cover accidental deaths and flight accidental death.

The travel health insurance plans that cover the medical costs of your trip will include cost of treatment, medical expenses, cost of medicines and dental expenses. These covers are available with many conditions. For instance, if you take medicines from unconventional medical sources such as Ayurvedic treatment or acupuncturists, the health travel insurance company will not reimburse the money to you.

In case, you are already covered by a health insurance policy, it would be wise to check whether it covers outside the United States or whether it offers benefits only in case of emergencies.

Also check out whether your travel health insurance company provides you the benefit of medical evacuation cover. It is very important especially if you are planning to travel outside the country. Usually, a travel health insurance policy provides medical evacuation facility to nearest qualified medical health facility. Here, you would not be evaluated to the United States. You would be transferred to the nearest medical health facility. Hence, if you are traveling in an under developed country, you may have to settle for medical treatment at a health facility decided by the travel health insurance company and not by you.

Another cover provided by travel health insurance policy is the repatriation of mortal remains. In the event of death of the insurance holder, the travel health insurance company will bear the cost of returning the mortal remains of the insured. You should also carefully study some other conditions prior to deciding on for a particular travel health insurance policy. These conditions include the following:

a) Co-insurance.

b) Deductibles.

c) Exclusions.

d) Benefit period.

e) Pre-existing conditions.

Don't ignore travel health insurance. It will play a vital role in providing you peace of mind while traveling to a foreign country. You don't need to worry about medical expenses, hospital treatment and sudden illness expenditure while traveling.

You can save a lot of money on your medical expenses when traveling via a travel insurance policy. It is like hiring a qualified caretaker to see your safety while you travel.